Rasmus Dahlin, Gabriel Landeskog, Jonathan Toews Named Masterton Trophy Finalists
The NHL has announced its three finalists for the Bill Masterton Trophy: Buffalo Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin, Colorado Avalanche forward Gabriel Landeskog, and Winnipeg Jets forward Jonathan Toews.
The Trophy is awarded annually by the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association to the player who “best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to ice hockey.”
Dahlin captained the Sabres to a season fans in Buffalo won’t forget for a long time. The franchise had not made the postseason in 14 years, the longest playoff drought in the “Big 4” North American professional sports leagues.
Dahlin’s leadership, and stellar on-ice play, helped the Sabres become one of the league’s best teams over the course of 2025-26.
Dahlin was able to accomplish all of this despite immense off-ice challenges.
Last July, Dahlin’s fiancee, Carolina Matovac, underwent an emergency heart transplant while the pair were vacationing in France. She later revealed that the couple lost their unborn child as well. The Athletic’s Matthew Fairburn told Dahlin and Matovac’s story in an excellent piece last month. He noted that during the beginning of the season, Matovac’s recovery was weighing on Dahlin, and he “had trouble focusing” on the season.
Dahlin eventually stepped away from the team in November to be with his fiancee, a decision the entire Sabres organization emphatically supported. He told Fairburn:
The first part of the season was terrible. I could not think about anything else other than Carolina. Then Terry Pegula flew me home to Sweden to be able to see Carolina for a week, and it just gave me an unbelievable boost. Then I was able to go home during Christmas, and I’ve just been lucky to have the organization let me go home and do stuff I needed to do throughout this process. And things got better every day.
Dahlin did eventually return from his leave of absence, and when he did, he joined a Sabres team that was quickly becoming a juggernaut. He finished the season with 74 points in 77 games, and led Buffalo to victory over their first-round opponent, the Boston Bruins. His fiancee was even able to return to Buffalo and be welcomed back by an adoring home crowd.
Each nominee for the Masterton Trophy, every year it is awarded, is deserving in his own right. But the story of Dahlin’s 2025-26 season in particular embodies the core values of the award.
Moving on to Landeskog, this is actually the Avalanche captain’s second consecutive campaign as a finalist for the award. Landeskog missed three seasons as a result of knee injuries, coming directly after he led Colorado to a Stanley Cup championship in 2022.
Landeskog was productive for the Avalanche this season, scoring 35 points in 60 regular-season games, and five points in five playoff contests so far.
There are many athletes for whom missing three seasons would be an insurmountable, career-ending obstacle. There were those who, at times, speculated that might be the case for Landeskog. It did not. He is back in the NHL and his knee issues appear to be behind him, and the league is better for it.
The final nominee is Toews, the former Chicago Blackhawks star who captained the team to three Stanley Cup titles in the 2010’s. Toews’ story shares some similarities to Landeskog’s. He missed two full seasons as a result of a variety of health issues, including long Covid and Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (CIRS). Toews left the game unsure of whether he would be able to play again, and went to great lengths to pursue methods of recovery, including traveling to Asia for “a five-week Ayurvedic detox.”
Toews was able to return to the NHL, signing with his hometown Winnipeg Jets. He played in all 82 games of the Jets’ season, his first full, healthy NHL campaign since 2018-19. He scored 11 goals and 29 points while winning 62% of his faceoffs. Like Landeskog, he had no assurances he would be able to continue his storied NHL career, but he found a way to return to the game.
Photos courtesy of Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images
Metro Notes: Nikishin, Malkin, DeBoer
The Carolina Hurricanes expect to keep rookie defenseman Alexander Nikishin out of their lineup for tonight’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers as he recovers from a concussion, head coach Rod Brind’Amour said today. Nikishin hasn’t played since suffering a concussion in game four of the team’s first-round sweep of the Ottawa Senators. Brind’Amour told the media, including North State Journal’s Cory Lavalette, that keeping Nikishin out of the lineup is a “health decision.”
The Hurricanes played Nikishin on a pairing with veteran Shayne Gostisbehere when he was healthy. Nikishin wasn’t able to dress for game one against the Flyers, so the Hurricanes turned to veteran Mike Reilly in that slot. The 32-year-old provided Carolina with an instant return-on-investment, registering two assists in the team’s 3-0 victory. As Carolina hopes to continue its march towards another Eastern Conference Final, the status of Nikishin, one of the league’s top rookie blueliners, will be a storyline to monitor.
Other notes from the Metropolitan Division:
- One player whose future has come under immense scrutiny in the aftermath of his team’s playoff exit has been Pittsburgh Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin. It’s unclear whether the future Hall of Fame pivot will continue his career in Pittsburgh. The Athletic’s Josh Yohe reported this morning that Malkin’s representatives will reach out to Penguins GM Kyle Dubas to set up more substantial talks on Malkin’s future. Malkin’s camp, led by J.P. Barry of CAA, will no doubt be hoping to secure an agreement to keep Malkin in Pittsburgh for what is most likely going to be his final campaign in the NHL.
- New York Islanders head coach Peter DeBoer only got to coach in four games before the end of the 2025-26 season, and that quick turnaround meant that he didn’t have an opportunity to build a staff from scratch. Stefen Rosner of The Elmonters named two coaches as legitimate candidates to get a job on DeBoer’s staff: Boston Bruins assistant Steve Spott, who is a longtime DeBoer assistant, and Misha Donskov, who will coach Canada at the upcoming IIHF Men’s World Championships. Spott was on DeBoer’s staff with OHL Kitchener and in the NHL with San Jose, Vegas, and Dallas. Donskov overlapped with DeBoer in Vegas and Dallas.
Canadiens Reassign Adam Engstrom
The Montreal Canadiens reassigned defenseman Adam Engström to their AHL affiliate, the Laval Rocket.
The move comes in the aftermath of the Canadiens’ victory in game seven of their first-round series against the Tampa Bay Lightning. They are set to take on the Buffalo Sabres in the second round.
Top defenseman Noah Dobson returned from a hand injury to play in game seven, pushing Engström down a spot within the Canadiens’ depth chart of healthy blueliners. Arber Xhekaj came out of the lineup to accommodate Dobson’s return. With Xhekaj now available as a spare defenseman, there is less of a need for Engström to be on the NHL roster – hence today’s reassignment.
The status of the Rocket likely also impacted this move. Laval won their first game of their playoff series against the Toronto Marlies last week, but dropped the next two contests. They have surrendered 12 goals over their last two games, and would be eliminated with a loss tomorrow. This reassignment gives Laval one of their top defensemen back for the most important game of their season.
Engström, 22, was one of the Rocket’s top players in his time there this season. The 2022 third-round pick scored 10 goals and 34 points in 45 games this season, a performance that earned him 15 games at the NHL level.
When he was in Laval, Engström was the Rocket’s No. 1 defenseman, playing a heavy diet of minutes in all situations. He was ranked as the sixth-best prospect in the team’s system by Scott Wheeler of The Athletic.
If the Rocket do end up eliminated by the Marlies on Tuesday, expect Engström to return to the NHL roster in short order. But the hope in Montreal will be that he can help engineer a series turnaround for the Rocket and assist as they make a push for their first Calder Cup title in franchise history.
Morning Notes: Ivanov, Wallmark, Palmu
The Columbus Blue Jackets are hoping to sign netminder Sergei Ivanov away from the KHL this summer, Aaron Portzline of The Athletic reported today. Ivanov’s contract with KHL side SKA St. Petersburg is set to expire at the end of the month, and according to Portzline, “the plan is” for Ivanov to spend next season with the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters, assuming Columbus can secure his signature on an entry-level contract.
The 22-year-old goalie was a fifth-round pick, No. 138 overall, at the 2022 NHL Entry Draft. He broke into Russia’s top pro league at the age of 20, when he posted a .928 save percentage in 33 games for Admiral Vladivostok. The following campaign, he got into 38 games for HC Sochi and posted a .911 save percentage. This past year, he played 29 games for SKA and had a .928 save percentage. He was recently ranked as the No. 4 prospect in the Blue Jackets’ system by Scott Wheeler, also of The Athletic. In the past, some Russian prospects have shown an aversion to developing in the AHL – many would rather remain closer to home unless they get the chance to play in the NHL. The Blue Jackets appear to believe that is not the case with Ivanov, who after three years in the KHL, could be headed to North America.
Other notes from around the hockey world:
- Former Carolina Hurricanes forward Lucas Wallmark has signed a six-year contract to join the SHL’s IF Björklöven, the team announced today. Contracts of such a length are not as common overseas as they are in North America, making this signing notable. The 30-year-old has not played in the SHL since 2016, which came before the half-decade he spent in North America. Wallmark’s best season came in 2018-19, when he scored 28 points in the regular season and five in the playoffs for a Hurricanes team that reached the Eastern Conference Final. He spent 2025-26 with HC Fribourg-Gottéron of the Swiss National League, and had a stellar playoff run. His 14 points in 19 postseason contests helped his club win its first Swiss championship in franchise history.
- Former Vancouver Canucks prospect Petrus Palmu has signed a one-year contract with Liiga’s SaiPa, according to a team announcement. The 2017 sixth-round pick spent the last two years with HIFK Helsinki, scoring seven goals and 25 points in 49 games in 2025-26. Once a top OHL scorer and Liiga MVP, Palmu’s star has faded over the last few years compared to where it was before. The 28-year-old will receive a new opportunity with SaiPa, a club that won the league in 2024-25 and the league’s bronze medal this year.
Golden Knights Recall Dylan Coghlan
The Vegas Golden Knights have recalled defenseman Dylan Coghlan from their AHL affiliate, the Henderson Silver Knights.
According to Jesse Granger of The Athletic, Jeremy Lauzon was not at Golden Knights practice today. There is no word as to Lauzon’s status but Coghlan’s recall reinforces the team’s defensive depth in case Lauzon, or any other defenseman, is unavailable. The Golden Knights begin their second-round series against the Anaheim Ducks tomorrow.
Coghlan, 28, is a 6’2″ right-shot defenseman who brings over 100 games of NHL experience. The bulk of that experience came in his first stint with the Golden Knights organization, which began in 2018 and ended in 2022.
For the last few years, Coghlan has been a high-end, productive AHL defenseman offering some utility as a short-term call-up. His recall, in the moment, hurts Henderson’s defense. They could be without one of their top contributors for the second game of their series against the Colorado Eagles, which is tomorrow as well.
In exchange for that, he provides additional depth to the Golden Knights as they are set to chase another trip to the Conference Finals. That kind of tradeoff – where an AHL team loses a key player to support the depth of their NHL affiliate – is one most AHL clubs are prepared to make. It’s just part of the cost of doing business as a minor-league team. But it could nonetheless have an impact on Henderson’s playoff run, as the team could be pushed to the brink of elimination with a loss tomorrow.
In any case, the Golden Knights’ recall of Coghlan adds to Vegas’ roster depth, but he may not be the team’s first option in case Lauzon isn’t able to play. In that case, it’s likely veteran left-shot blueliner Ben Hutton would take Lauzon’s spot on the left side of the team’s third pairing.
Snapshots: Wild, Sanheim, Bruins Captain
Minnesota Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin will not be able to play in game one against the Colorado Avalanche tonight, reports Michael Russo of The Athletic. Additionally, center Joel Eriksson Ek is questionable with a lower-body injury. Eriksson Ek is questionable after he was shaken up in game six against the Dallas Stars, due to the fact that he lost his balance and hit the boards with some force. Brodin missed game six with a lower-body injury.
The fact that Minnesota will be without Brodin is already a significant loss for them, but the potential loss of Eriksson Ek could be even more significant. Colorado boasts center depth that is the envy of the league. Few teams have the kind of talent down the middle to be able to play a center like Nazem Kadri, who nearly led the Calgary Flames in scoring despite being traded mid-season, as a No. 3 pivot. The Wild are likely to count on Eriksson Ek’s highly-regarded defensive ability heavily in their efforts to shut down Nathan MacKinnon, Martin Necas, and others, so his health will be a key storyline to track as this series gets going.
Other notes from around the NHL:
- The Philadelphia Flyers No. 1 defenseman Travis Sanheim was knocked out of game one against the Carolina Hurricanes with an apparent lower-body injury. Per NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Jordan Hall, Sanheim “was banged up after taking a hit into the side boards” during the game. The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz reported that the media requested to speak with Sanheim post-game but he was not made available, something that is not out of the ordinary when a player’s availability is newly in question. Sanheim has averaged nearly 26 minutes per night in the playoffs so far, meaning his health is of massive importance to the Flyers’ hopes of pulling off a second consecutive upset series win.
- Boston Bruins head coach Marco Sturm told the media today that he is comfortable with the team’s current leadership structure, and may not necessarily enter 2026-27 with a captain. The Bruins have not had a captain since they traded Brad Marchand to the Florida Panthers. The team had four alternate captains in 2025-26: Elias Lindholm, Hampus Lindholm, Charlie McAvoy, and David Pastrnak. Among that quartet, McAvoy and Pastrnak are the most likely candidates, at face value, to be captain given the length of their respective tenures in Boston.
Canadiens’ Noah Dobson A Game-Time Decision For Game 7
Montreal Canadiens defenseman Noah Dobson will take part in warmups and be a game-time decision to play tonight, head coach Martin St. Louis told the media today. The news comes as the Canadiens are set for a do-or-die game seven against the Tampa Bay Lightning tonight.
Dobson has been out since April 11 with an upper-body injury. It was initially announced that he would be “re-evaluated in two weeks” after he suffered his injury, meaning this current return window fits within the original projections. St. Louis expressed confidence that if Dobson feels he is able to play, he will be able to do so without limitation.
If the Canadiens do indeed get Dobson back tonight, it would be a significant boost to their lineup. First and foremost, he is one of the team’s top defensemen. The former Islanders rearguard had a strong debut campaign in Montreal, scoring 12 goals and 47 points.
He put up those numbers despite the fact that he does not quarterback the team’s No. 1 power play unit – Lane Hutson occupied that role almost all season. Dobson also skated in two minutes per game on the penalty kill, and averaged 22:29 per game overall. When he has been paired with veteran Mike Matheson, his pairing has soaked up the most difficult matchups for the Canadiens.
Dobson’s return would improve the Canadiens not only because of his own personal ability, but also due to the impact it would have on the overall formation of the team’s blueline. Montreal currently only has one healthy right-shot blueliner in their lineup. Both Hutson and Arber Xhekaj have had to play on their off-side as a result, and while Hutson has shown he can still be effective playing from the right, he is at his best playing from the left.
Dobson’s return, if it happens, may not actually shift Hutson back to the left. He may still end up paired with Kaiden Guhle, or perhaps may stay on the right and return to playing next to Jayden Struble. Struble played his best hockey of 2025-26 when paired with Hutson, showing a greater level of confidence and decisiveness.
In any case, a Dobson return would at the very least mean one fewer Canadien will be playing on his off-side.
It’s not immediately clear where, if healthy, Dobson might slot into Montreal’s lineup. St. Louis has been somewhat flexible with defensive pairings this season, and so partnerships are not fully set in stone. With that said, St. Louis may not be eager to make too many drastic changes in advance of a must-win game, so it’ll be interesting to see who he decides to partner with Dobson if Dobson is able to dress tonight.
Photos courtesy of Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
Bruins Notes: Zadorov, Arvidsson, Lindholm
Boston Bruins defenseman Nikita Zadorov played the latter portion of the team’s first-round series against the Buffalo Sabres with an MCL that was “fully [torn] off the bone,” he told the media yesterday. Zadorov’s status was up in the air before game five. But other than that moment, his availability for games was not seen to be in question. The injury did appear to impact his play, though, as The Athletic’s Fluto Shinzawa wrote Zadorov “was compromised” after his MCL tear.
Zadorov, 31, is one of Boston’s most experienced defensemen and a blueliner who plays a significant role in head coach Marco Sturm‘s lineup. Standing 6’7″, 255 pounds, Zadorov scored 22 points in 81 games this season, also registering 152 penalty minutes and 196 hits. He averaged 20:52 time on ice per game during the regular season, good for No. 3 on the team.
Other notes from Boston:
- Zadorov wasn’t the only Bruins veteran battling an injury against the Sabres. Veteran forward Viktor Arvidsson sustained a fractured rib and punctured lung, relays Conor Ryan of the Boston Globe. Arvidsson was No. 4 on the Bruins in scoring in the regular season, potting 25 goals and 54 points in 69 games. He suffered his injury in game four and wasn’t able to play in games five or six. The 33-year-old, who scored just 27 points the year before joining the Bruins, is set to become a UFA this summer.
- While some players suffer injuries only during the course of a playoff series, other suffer the injuries earlier in the season and the ailments just become something to manage over the course of the entire rest of the campaign. Veteran defenseman Hampus Lindholm is one of the players in the latter category, as he told the media today that he played through a foot fracture that he first suffered in December. The Bruins’ No. 2 defenseman behind Charlie McAvoy has seen his last two campaigns defined by injury, as a lower-body injury limited him to just 17 games played in 2024-25. This past season, he scored 26 points in 67 contests averaging 21:37 time on ice per game.
Morning Notes: Engvall, Burkholder, Kunc
New York Islanders forward Pierre Engvall has had a difficult run of things since signing his seven-year, $3MM AAV contract extension in the summer of 2023. The 29-year-old missed the entirety of the 2025-26 season with an ankle injury, and the year prior he saw his role in the NHL decline sharply. Without question, he’s hoping to rebound next season, and Stefen Rosner of The Elmonters reported that Engvall “is feeling better, and the hope is that he’ll be ready for training camp.”
Rosner also noted that “given the severity of the ankle injury, it’s fair to expect a gradual ramp-up before he’s back to full strength.” That Engvall still isn’t a guarantee to be at 100% health before training camp, despite missing the entire campaign due to his injury, is notable – underscoring just how severe Engvall’s injury was. The Islanders don’t have many viable routes to move off of the hefty financial commitment they made to Engvall, as he almost certainly wouldn’t be claimed off of waivers and his 16-team no-trade list makes finding a deal for him difficult. So their best hope for his future with the team is for him to be able to recover and rediscover the form that once made him a speedy 15-goal, 35-point forward.
Other notes from around the hockey world:
- The Boston Bruins have invited Colorado College captain Max Burkholder to their development camp, reports Mark Divver of New England Hockey Journal. The 22-year-old is an undersized right-shot defenseman who had a breakout sophomore campaign in 2024-25. That year, he scored 26 points in 37 games and was named to the NCHC’s Second All-Star team. A lower-body injury cost him all but three games this year, but he’ll still get the chance to show off his talents at development camp with the hope of potentially earning a pro contract down the line.
- Utah Mammoth pending RFA Michal Kunc has signed a two-year contract to return to his native Czechia, according to a team announcement. Brno is Kunc’s youth team and the club with whom he made his professional debut, though it’s his performances with HC Olomouc that earned him his shot in North America. Kunc spent the entirety of 2025-26 in the AHL with the Tucson Roadrunners, scoring 16 points in 43 games. The Mammoth have an extensive track record of mining the European leagues, and specifically Czechia, for free agent talent. While players such as Kunc and Ronald Knot, for example, have come and gone, they have had some success, most notably finding a No. 1 goalie in Karel Vejmelka from Brno.
West Notes: Flames Coaches, Rantanen, Karlsson
The Calgary Flames organization announced several news items related to their coaching staff today: head coach Ryan Huska’s entire staff of assistants, including Trent Cull, Dave Lowry, Cail MacLean, video coach Jamie Pringle, and goalie coach Jason LaBarbera, have been signed to two-year contract extensions. Additionally, it was announced that longtime AHL assistant coach Joe Cirella will not return to the organization for 2026-27.
This past season was a difficult one for the Flames, but it’s tough to pin that on their coaching staff. The team is undergoing a significant roster reconstruction, and management has elected to subtract considerable NHL talent from the lineup in order to build a sustainable contending team down the line. While that very well could lead to the Flames competing for Stanley Cups later in this decade or early in the next one, in the immediate term, it means Huska and his staff are coaching with a talent deficit on most nights. While some might still argue that they haven’t made the most of the talent they’ve had access to, however limited, it’s clear the Flames view this staff as the right one to lead the team forward.
Other notes from the Western Conference:
- Dallas Stars forward Mikko Rantanen was fined $5K for cross-checking Minnesota Wild forward Kirill Kaprizov, the NHL’s Department of Player Safety announced today. The infraction came during last night’s contest between the two teams, one that saw the Wild end the Stars’ season. Rantanen had a strong campaign for Dallas, scoring 77 points in 64 games. He put up seven points in the team’s six-game series loss, but his overall impact left some, including Mark Lazerus of The Athletic, wanting more.
- Injured Vegas Golden Knights center William Karlsson hit the ice in a standard jersey for the team’s practice today, but that should not be viewed as a sign that his return is imminent. Per Sin Bin Vegas, head coach John Tortorella said that Karlsson’s inclusion was more about getting him around the team as he rehabs than anything else. Karlsson was limited to playing in just 14 games during the regular season as a result of his injury, which is of the lower-body variety. GM Kelly McCrimmon has already indicated that Karlsson is unlikely to return this year unless the Golden Knights have a deep run in the playoffs.